Ten pin bowling games



Sept. 22,;1970

Filed Aug. 25, 1968 j 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 i .9 8w (9&9 J

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R. WALCH TEN PIN BOWLING GAMES Sept. 22, 1970 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledAug. 25, l968 0 5 E. F. O T

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Sept. 22, 1970 R. WALCH 3,529,824

TEN PIN BOWLING GAMES Filed Aug. 23. 1968 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG." 3.

Sept. 22, 1970 R. ALCH 3,529,824

TEN PIN BOWLING GAMES 7 Filed Aug. 25, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 "FIG. 4.

Sept. 22, 1970 Filed Aug. 23. 1968 5 SheutsSheet 4.

FIG.I FIG-2 FIG-3 FIG. 5.

United States Patent 3,529,824 TEN PIN BOWLING GAMES Rolf Walch, 671Lane St., Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia Filed Aug. 23, 1968,Ser. No. 754,853 Claims priority, application Australia, Aug. 28, 1967,26,467 67 Int. Cl. A63d 5/00 U.S. Cl. 273-54 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A ten pin bowling alley including a pin setter is equippedwith a coin-operated and coin-dispensing arrangement set into motion bytendering of a coin, and including electrical circuits, relays, countersand switches.

The relays are operated in accordance with the number and position ofthe pins left standing after a ball has been played and the contacts ofthe relays are so connected that for certain predetermined combinationsof pins left standing electric circuits are closed for the counterswhich are set to make a predetermined number of steps in accordance witheach of said combinations and thereby control the dispensing of acorresponding number of coins.

The invention relates to a ten pin bowling alley and more specificallyto a coin operated game on such alley in which for certain combinationsa bonus is paid out to the player. In this way the interest in the gameis increased and an incentive is given to the player to achieve specificresults with regard to the pins which are knocked down or left standingrespectively.

In the known ten pin bowling game ten pins are set at the far end of thebowling alley, and the bowler rolls a ball at the pins, endeavouring toknock down as many as possible. If all the pins are knocked down, withthe first ball, it is called a strike and the ball is returned to thebowler. The ten pins are then set up again for the bowler by a pinsetter mechanism.

If all the pins are not knocked down by the first ball, the ball isreturned to the bowler and the standing pins are left as they are. Thedeadwood, or pins which were knocked down, but did not fall in the pitarea at the rear of the pin area, are removed so that they will notinterfere with the game. As the deadwood is being cleared, the deck of aso-called pin setter rests with foam cushions on the head of the pinsleft standing, pairs of scissors will close around the neck of thesepins and when lifted up, the rake sweeps underneath to clear thedeadwood, and the pins held in the scissors are then replaced Where theyhave been picked up. The bowler then rolls the ball a second time toattempt to knock down the remaining pins which were left standing by thefirst ball. The additional function of the second ball is to activatethe pin setter for resetting all ten pins on the alley irrespective ofthe number of pins that have been knocked down by the first and secondballs or were still left standing. The playing of one or two balls asreferred to above is called playing a frame.

For the present invention the second ball does not count and thus thesecond ball is solely played to complete the playing of one frame and toreset all pins. Instead of the second ball therefore a special buttoncan be pressed which then activates the pin setter again to put down newpins on to the pin area.

It is an object of the present invention to increase the interest in thegame by giving the player a monetary premium if he knocks down with hisfirst ball a certain number of pins so that the pins left standingconform to one of the combinations for which a pay-out will be made. Insuch cases the game is started by the insertion of a coin by the playerand this coin allows him to play one frame.

The before stated object is achieved according to the invention by anarrangement having coin-operated means to activate said pin setter,sensing means on said pin setter to sense the position of any pins leftstanding after a ball has been played, electric circuits includingpay-out relays connected with said sensing means, a selected one of saidcircuits being closed by a corresponding predetermined combination ofsensed pins representing a predetermined monetary value to operate acorresponding pay-out relay, counting means set in accordance with saidpredetermined monetary value, a coin dispensing device connected withsaid counting means to dispense coins when any one of said pay-outrelays is operated, said counting means counting the number of coinsdispensed from said dispensing device and stopping the dispensing ofcoins when the number of dispensed coins corresponds to the monetaryvalue set on said counting means.

In one form of the invention an individual relay is provided for eachpin and the contacts of these relays are so arranged that on operationof certain selected relays a circuit is closed which activates the coindispensing means and at the same time counts the number of coins whichare dispensed. Special counters are set to the number of coins to bedispensed at each winning combinatron and when the corresponding numberof coins have been counted out these counters will stop the furtheroperation of the coin dispenser.

One embodiment of the invention will be described hereinafter in detailin connection with the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a circuit diagram to carry the invention into effect,

FIG. 3A shows the connections with a known pin setter circuit, and

FIGS. 4 and 4A show a coin dispenser for use with the circuit diagram ofFIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 5 indicates the position of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 to complete thecircuit diagram.

In considering the circuit FIGS. 1 to 3 have to be placed adjacent eachother. The connections to a known p n setter circuit, for example aso-called Brunswick Prnsetter are indicated by the terminals E1, E7, E8,E11, E12 (FIG. 3), E19, E20, E21 (FIG. 1), E22 and E23 (FIG. 3). FIG. 3Ashows that terminal E1 is connected to a pin setter start relay PSR,while terminal E7 is connected to a manager control switch MCS in thepin control box. Terminals E11 and E12 are connected to the other sideof relay PSR and switch MCS respectively and also to a common AC. powersource in the pin setter control box. Terminal B11 is further connectedwith one contact of a counter micro switch CMS in the pin settercontrol, While the other contact of this switch is connected withterminal E8.

Terminal E19 (FIG. 1) is connected with the common power source to whichis connected also terminal E12. The terminals E21 and E20 (FIG. 1) arerespectively connected to an AC. power source and a pin light FPL in thepin setter to light up the pin area, while the terminals E22 and E23(FIG. 3) are connected with an AC. power supply in the pin setter.

The coin dispenser, shown in FIGS. 4 and 4A and described in detaillater on, and a coin selector of known design (not shown) are mounted ina suitable position, for example, near the ball return track in adisplay stand, which also shows the various winning combinations of pinsleft standing on the playing area together with the units (10 cents)which are payable for each combination. These combinations can bealtered as will appear later on. The wiring diagram shown in FIGS. 1 to3 is set up for the following combinations and pay-outs whereby thefigures give the position of the pins left standing on the deck, and thenumber of units paid out respectively. In case of a so-called strike,all pins are knocked down. The combinations are:

Pins: Units 1 1 10 3 2 3-6-10 3 (3 7 4 (4) 10 4 (5) 1247 4 (6)5 5 (7)6-8-10 5 (8) 1361O 6 (9) 46710 6 (10) 7-10 7 (11) 268 12 1 2 4 2+ bonus13 Strike 1 All redays are either D.C. operated or, if connected to A.C.circuits are fitted with a full wave rectifier as shown in the drawings.The DC. current is derived from a rectifier D (FIG. 3) which isconnected with the A.C. power supply (E11, E12) over contacts I and IIof relay 4 (FIG. 3). This relay can be energized by operation of themanager control switch MCS (FIG. 3A) whenever the game is to be playedwithout the pay-out circuits. An indicator lamp A4 connected across theA.C. leads lights up to indicate that the A.C. supply is connected torectifier D, and is extinguished when either relay 4 is energized byoperating switch MCS or when the A.C. power supply fails for otherreasons.

All contacts are shown in the un-operated position.

When a player inserts a coin (one unit) into the coin selector (notshown), the coin trips in known manner a micro switch G (FIG. 3) whichcloses a circuit for relay 6 from the c-terminal of rectifier unit Dover relay 6, switch G to the d-terminal; at the same time the indicatorlamp A3 lights up to indicate that a coin has been tendered. Relay 6operates and remains locked over its contact II and the closed contactsx and y of a contact set CO, after the microswitch G is opened again.Over contact IV of relay 6 a circuit is closed from terminal a ofrectifier D, closed contact IV, closed contacts at of counters 9 and 10(FIG. 2), relays ZU and relays ZT respectively, terminal 12 of rectifierD. Relays ZU and ZT open their contacts zul and ztl and close theircontacts zu2 and zt2. The main purpose of relays ZT and ZU will bedescribed later on. Over contact III of relay 6 an A.C. circuit is nowclosed over the closed contacts zu2 and zt2 in series for the motor Kwhich rotates a cam L in anti-clockwise direction. Over contact I ofrelay -6 relay 8 (FIG. 1) is energized, which closes a locking circuitfor itself from terminal E19 over its contact I, and over contact 11 andterminals E20 and E21 operates a fluorescent light FPL in the pinsetter.

In order to test the proper function of the arrangement without thenecessity of tendering coins a push button CE is provided which onoperation by-passes the coin-operated contact G and energizes relay 6.

When, as mentioned above, the cam L moves it operates a cam-follower M,which acts on the contact set CO. The contact set CO is amake-before-break contact set with the contacts x, y, z. The camfollower M also operates microswitch F, the arrangement being such thaton movement of cam L contacts y and z close first, then the switch F isclosed and finally contacts x and y are interrupted; when the camfollower M falls back on further movement of cam L, the micro-switch Fopens and contacts x and y close again.

On the start of the movement of the cam follower M contacts y and zclose as mentioned above, thus energizing relay 5, which looks over itsmake contact I and break contact I of the relay 2 and over its contactII energizes the pin setter start relay PSR (FIG. 3A), connected toterminal E1. On further movement of the cam follower M switch F isclosed maintaining the circuit for cam motor K and subsequently openingthe contacts x and y of contact set CO thus interrupting the lockingcircuit for relay 6 which now releases.

When on further rotation of cam L the cam follower M falls back againswitch F opens thus stopping further movement of motor K and cam L andreleasing also contact set CO so that contacts x-y close and contactsy-z open.

When now the first ball has been played the pin setter is triggered bythe ball in known manner and will make a detecting cycle for any pinsleft standing. The pinfinder connected with the movable deck of the pinsetter is provided with ten micro switches M1 M10 (FIG. 1) which aremounted between foam cushions and the underside of the moving deck. Whenthe deck moves downward it will come to rest on the standing pins sothat the corresponding micro switches are closed, and energize one ormore corresponding sensing relays P1 P10 over contact IV of relay 1(FIG. 3) to A.C. terminal 0 of rectifier D.

A micro switch A (FIG. 1) is mounted on the pin setter and is operatedby the scissors cam follower when the movable deck comes to rest on anystanding pins, to energize relay 7 (FIG. 3) over contact II of relay 3and contact II of relay 1. Relay 7 connects over its contact I terminalb of the DC. supply from rectifier D with the contact sets 112 of relaysP1 to P10 (FIG. 1).

Corresponding contacts of the relays P1 P10 are connected in series insuch a manner that a circuit through these contacts is only completedwhen the relays corresponding to a winning combination are energized.

In the case in which the standing pins form one of these payablecombinations one circuit will be closed through one of the contacts ofall sensing relays P1 to P10 between the positions Q1 and Q2 and thusthe DC. supply from terminal b of rectifier D will be extended furtherover the closed contacts to one of the pay-out relays a n (FIG. 2) whichare all connected over contact III of relay 1 (FIG. 3) with the DC.terminal a of rectifier D. Thus any one of 12 combinations is indicatedby the operation of one of the relays a n.

In the case of a strike, when all pins have been knocked down, relay q(FIG. 2) will be operated by micro switch B which is mounted on the pinsetters detector and operated by the strike cam-follower. Relay q inturn operates pay-out relay p which locks itself as describedhereinafter.

All relays a to p (FIG. 2) are self-locking over their contacts I andoperated contact III of relay 5 (FIG. 3) and contact III of relay 1(FIG. 3) respectively.

The contacts I of relays m and n which indicate the highest pay-outcombinations also operate the indicator lamps A1 and A2 which arearranged at the display stand to indicate a winning combination beyondthe coin dispensers capacity.

All contacts II of the relays a p (FIG. 2) are connected in parallel,and on operation of any one of the relays a p (FIG. 2) the correspondingcontact II will close and will thus energize relay 3 (FIG. 3) byconnecting the latter with the A.C. supply at terminals c and d ofrectifier D (FIG. 3).

Contact II of relay 3 interrupts the circuit for relay 7 and contact Iof relay 3 closes a circuit for a synchro motor H which is supplied withA.C. current through terminals E22 and E23. An indicator lamp A5indicates that the corresponding A.C. voltage is actually present atthese terminals. Motor H operates the coin dispenser shown in FIGS. 4and 4A which will be described in detail later on. At this stage it issufficient to mention that on rotation of motor H a micro-switch E(FIGS. 3 and 4A) is operated at each dispensing of a coin (1 unit). Oneside of the micro-switch E is connected with terminal a of rectifier Dover contact III of relay 1, and the other side leads to terminal 1 ofcounter 10 (FIG. 2) while terminal 2 of counter 10 is connected withterminal b of rectifier D, so that this counter is stepped by one stepon each pulse received by operation of micro-switch E (FIGS. 3 and 4A).The counter is of known design and at the 10th step will operatemomentarily its contact y, thus transferring this pulse to a similarcounter 9 which now makes one step. In this way the counters can countup to 99 units. The counters are also provided with a contact x which isopen in the O-position but will be pulsed and then stays closed at anyother position. Diodes V are provided to prevent wrong current flowthrough the counters. Each counter has a wiper arm connected to aterminal C and a contact bank of ten contacts 1 to which are connectedto contacts III of the relay group a to p in accordance with the pay-outcombinations. The connections T can be varied according to the suggestedpay-out as referred to above. These variations can, for example, becarried out by interposing between each contact III and the counter banka 10-position rotary switch as shown in dotted lines by switch T1.

Assuming that the beforementioned pin combination (11) has been leftstanding. Relays P2, P6 and P8 (FIG. 1) are, therefore, operated closinga circuit for relay m (FIG. 2). Contact III of relay m connects contactof the contact bank of counter with contact 1 of the contact bank ofcounter 9 and when the two counters together have made steps a circuitis closed from terminal c to rectifier D (FIG. 3) over relay 1, wiperand contact bank of counter 10 (FIG. 2) contact III of relay m, contactbank and wiper of counter 9, to terminal d of rectifier D (FIG. 3). Atcontact IV of relay 1 the power supply from terminal 0 of rectifier D isinterrupted, thus releasing any operated one of the relays P1 to P10(FIG. 1) and at contact III of relay 1 the DC. supply from terminal a ofrectifier D is interrupted to release any of relays a to p (FIG. 2).Relay 1 (FIG. 3) remains energized over its own operated contact I, andcontact I of relay 2, when contact III of relay in (FIG. 2) opens again.At contact II of relay m the circuit for relay 3 is interrupted and thusmotor H (FIGS. 3 and 4A) of the coin dispenser is now stopped after 15coins (units) provided for this combination, have been dispensed, ascounted by the counters 10 and 9. Operated contact III of relay 1 (FIG.3) now connects the DC. power supply of rectifier D directly with thecontacts x (FIG. 2) of the counters so that the counters continuestepping until they reach their O-position, when contacts x remain openinterrupting the stepping circuits. To safeguard against a wrong pay-outin the case in which the counters have not returned to their initial orO-position for any reason, the relays ZU and ZT with their contacts zul,M2 and ztl, zt2 are included in the counter circuits. If, for example,in the absence of relays ZU and ZT the counter 9 remains on contact 2after the final pulsing and the next count would be 1, then the counterswould have to step up to 99, then to zero and subsequently to contact 1thus overpaying by 100 units.

This is prevented by the relays ZU and ZT. As men tioned earlier motor Kcan only operate when the relays ZU and ZT have been energized closingtheir respective contacts zu2 and zt2. As the relays ZU and ZT areenergized over the contacts x of counter 9 and 10 and these contacts areonly closed continuously when the counters are in the O-position it isclear that no circuit for motor K can be completed unless both countershave returned to their respective O-position. The ottzero-position ofany of the counters is in addition indicated by the indicator lamps A6and A7 which are energized over the contacts ztl and 2141 respectivelyand contact II of relay 2 (FIG. 3) when the latter operates as describedhereinafter. The counters 9 and 10 can be reset to their O-positions bymanually operating the pushbuttons (CA and CB (FIG. 3)) respectivelywhich are provided at the control box. When the respective counterreaches its O-position the corresponding relay ZU or ZT will operate asdescribed above extinguishing the control lamp A7 or A6 as the case maybe, and motor K can operate again over the closed contacts zu2 and zt2.

When all pins have been removed either by a strike or after a secondball has been played, the movable deck of the pin setter will go downfurther to set new pins and in this lower position will close amicro-switch CMS (FIG. 3A) thus energizing relay 2 (FIG. 3) overterminal E8 as long as the deck remains in its lowest position. Relay 2breaks the holding circuits for relays 1 and 5 at contact I, so thatthese relays are tie-energized and the circuit for the pin setter startrelay PSR (FIG. 3A) connected to terminal E1 is interrupted at contactII of relay 5 (FIG. 3).

The pin setter will stop but relay 8 remains operated, so that thefluorescent light FPL (FIG. 1) still illuminates the pin area and thegame can continue by inserting a further coin into the coin dispenser,operating again temporarily the micro-switch G (FIG. 3). The whole cycleof operations then repeats itself as previously described.

At the end of the game a push button N (FIG. 1) is temporarily pressedthus interrupting the circuit for relay 8 which extinguishes thefluoroescent pin light FPL of the pin area.

As mentioned before, the pay out can be altered by changing theconnections T (FIG. 2) between the contact banks of the counters 9 and10 and the contacts III of the relays a to p. Similarly the payingcombinations can be changed by altering the connections at the contacts1 and 12 of relays P1 to P10 (FIG. 1). For this purpose switches U can,for example, be inserted between each contact in each of the twelvecontact rows as indicated in contact row 1 (FIG. 1). A change over ofone or more of these switches gives a wide variation in payingcombinations.

One form of a coin dispenser suitable for use with the above describedcircuit is shown in FIGS. 4 and 4A.

The dispenser comprises a coin tube 7 which carries the necessary coins4 to be paid out on winning combinations. The coin dispenser can be soarranged that the coins tendered by a player to the coin selector arecollected in the coin tube 7 to replenish the amount held therein.

The tube 7 is mounted above a base plate 13' in a top plate 30 supportedby side walls 22 and 23 and 24 and 25 and secured to top plate 30 by aflange 20 and screws 21. The lower end of tube 7 is held in position bya plate 14 secured to a spacer plate 18 by screws 26. A further spacer16 with a semi-circular cut-out 17 is provided with a gap between theplate 18 and the space plate 13 to allow a disk 2 to be rotated therein.

The disk 2 has a shaft 10 journalled in bores 11 and 12 in the baseplate 13 and plate 14 respectively, and spaced therefrom by shim washers29.

Disk 2 takes the form of a tooth wheel which can be rotated by a cog 1secured to the synchron motor H (see also FIG. 3) which is also mountedon the base plate by means of bushes 27 and screws 28.

The disk 2 has four symmetrically arranged openings 3 of the size of thecoins to be dispensed and each opening is flanked by two pins 5 whichwhen the disk rotates in an anti-clockwise direction pass throughcorresponding slots 6 in the bottom of coin tube 7 and push the lowermost coin through a horizontal slot 8 adjacent the bottom of the tube.When the coin is clear of the bottom of the tube 7 it falls into thenearest opening 3 of the disk 2 and on further movement is dispensedthrough the semi-circular cut-out 15 in base plate 13. The spacer plate18 has also a semi-circular cut-out 19 which is tangential to theopenings 3 to prevent any coin from overshooting the opening when it ispushed out of the coin tube 7.

The disk has four depressions 9 corresponding to the four openings 3 andthese depressions operate a micro 7 switch B (see also FIG. 3), to givea counting pulse for each coin dispensed from the dispenser to operatethe counters and 9 (FIG. 2) as described above.

The foregoing detailed description refers only to one embodiment of theinvention and it must be understood that changes can be made in thecircuit and the coin dispenser to suit individual requirements withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a ten pin bowling alley incuding a pin setter, an arrangementhaving coin-operated means to activate said pin setter, sensing means onsaid pin setter to sense the position of any pins left standing after aball has been played, electric circuits including pay-out relaysconnected with said sensing means, a selected one of said circuits beingclosed by a corresponding predetermined combination of sensed pinsrepresenting a predetermined monetary value to operate a correspondingpay-out relay, counting mean set in accordance with said predeterminedmonetary value, a coin dispensing device connected with said countingmeans to dispense coins when any one of said pay-out relays is operated,said counting means counting the number of coins dispensed from saiddispensing device and stopping the dispensing of coins when the numberof dispensed coins corresponds to the monetary value set on saidcounting means.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the sensing meanscomprise a set of micro switches mounted on the pin setter for operationby standing pins on downward movement of the pin setter, and acorresponding set of sensing relays, each sensing relay beingelectrically connected with a corresponding micro switch and operatedthereby, each relay having a set of electrical change-over contactswhereby the number of contacts corresponds to the number of saidpredetermined combinations and corresponding contacts of the sensingrelays are connected in series in such a manner that an electric circuitis closed for one of said pay-out relays when the sensing relays of apredetermined combination are energized over their corresponding microswitches, the operation of said pay-out relay indicating the presence ofa predetermined combination of standing pins.

3. An arrangement according to claim 2 and having an additoinal pay-outrelay operable by said pin setter when no pins have been left standingafter the first ball has been played.

4. An arrangement according to claim 2 wherein changeover switches areinterposed between said seriesconnected changeover contacts of saidrelays.

5. An arrangement according to claim 2 wherein the counting meanscomprise a step-by-step unit counter and a step-by-step ten-unitcounter, each counter having the contacts of its contact bankselectively electrically connected with contacts of said pay-out relayscorresponding to units of said predetermined monetary values, saidcounters being stepped by said coin dispensing device in accordance withcoins of unit value dispensed thereby.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5 in which rotary switches areinterposed between each contact of said contact banks and contacts ofsaid pay-out relays for the selective connection therebetween.

7. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the coin dispensingdevice comprises a vertical coin tube for receiving coins of unit valuestacked therein, said tube being closed at its lower end and having aslot in its side wall adjacent said closed end to permit the lowermostcoin to be pushed therethrough, a disc-shaped member underneath theclosed end of said tube and rotatably mounted on a vertical axis oif-setfrom the longitudinal axis of said tube, an electric motor engaging saiddiscshaped member for rotation thereof, said disc-shaped member having aplurality of openings evenly spaced angularly for receiving a cointherein and a pair of pusher pins arranged adjacent each opening, saidpins on rotation of said member passing through corresponding slots inthe closed end of said tube to engage the lowermost coin therein and topush said coin into one of said openings, a base plate underneath saiddisc-shaped member having a passage therethrough to allow a coin to bereleased through said base plate, when the coin in one opening of saidmember is aligned with said passage, and switching means temporarilyoperated by said discshaped member at the release of each coin.

8. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said coin-operated meansinclude a coin operated contact, a motor-driven cam, said motor beingstarted by the operation of said coin-operated contact, and contactmeans operable by said cam to activate the pin setter and to stop saidmotor after the cam has rotated through a predetermined angle.

9. An arrangement according to claim 8 including relay meansinterrupting the electric circuit of said motor when said counting meansare not in their rest position, when the coin-operated contact isoperated.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,118,303 5/1938 Hehn 27337FOREIGN PATENTS 626,725 5/1927 France. 266,648 3/1927 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner

